My wife and I have moved to Italy in mid-September, 2007. Prior to this move and after, I had identified, collected, assembled for our eventual move to Italy many, many links about things one should be aware of before moving to Italy. I believe that these links will benefit other like-minded individuals who are considering or dreaming to move to Italy. This effort is on-going and I hope will benefit with the interaction with interested individuals. I will continue to make entries to this blog.

Monday, December 24, 2007

For some of you, if you had not heard from us in a while, it is because Missy and Ben have moved to a rennovated farm house built in 1650 on approximately 50 acres (23 hectares) just outside of Monte San Savino in the province of Arezzo in the region of Tuscany, Italy.

December is the start of our third full month in Italy and we are enjoying our time here. There were a lot of “firsts” this year for us.It was our first cruise, transatlantic on the Queen Mary II from NYC to Southampton, England with our 15 year old dog, Siena Lucca. We have seen and felt our first season change in Italy.It was our first Thanksgiving together outside America, first time in Italy during the months of November and December with many more “firsts” to come. We are looking forward to celebrating Christmas and New Year’s Eve Italian style.

It is hard to believe that this time last year Ben was planning to start a new job in January but instead we will end 2007, living in Italy. Talk about doing a 360, it made our heads spin.In February, Missy received notice that she had become an Italian citizen.In just 7 months: we sold our house, packed to move and to store our belonging’s, shipped 41 boxes to Italy including a Weber grill and several boxes of Asian ingredients, sailed on the Queen Mary II with 21 bags, took a ferry to France and met Ben’s daughter, Maria, with a leased mini-van, drove through France and Italy to our rental house on a farm on top of one of the largest hills in the area outside of and above a small town in Tuscany.

Within a few days, we ran into Italian bureaucracy that we have read and heard so much about.But that did not spoil our fun or stop us from going to festivals:duck, with Maria and polenta with another Expat couple, Barb and Art, (whom we had met on one of our previous trips to Italy) and Missy’s cousin and husband from Delaware, Jeanne and Fred.Friends, Nina and Ellen, whom Missy worked with at Clyde’s, a restaurant in Northern Virginia, were our first guests to stay in our guesthouse. Oh, and we had to buy a car.

By the way (BTW), hunting season started the day after we arrived on 15 September and it is still hunting season in Italy! As recently as this past Sunday, 23 December, we could hear gunshots, barking dogs and the shouts and sounds of hunters nearby in our rental house. Yes, they were that close.Fortunately, we were prepared and had read about the start of hunting season. When we were visiting my sister, Bea, and her family in Kansas City, Kansas this past July, we bought a blaze orange vest for Siena Luca and blaze orange clothing for Missy and myself at Cabela’s, a huge outdoor and hunting store not far from my sister’s house to wear when we go outside to walk the dog.

In the months that followed, we have gone; to 2 different truffle festivals, San Miniato and San Giovanni d’Asso, a chocolate festival in Arezzo, a pumpkin festival with another Expat couple, David, Indah and their son, Alex, in Foiano della Chiana, a tasting of typical Tuscan foods at a exposition of Agriturismos (working farms that can derive part of their income from renting rooms or houses to paying guests) in Arezzo, and traveled down roads that we have not been down before in Tuscany.We had Thanksgiving dinner, turkey with most of the traditional trimmings with another expat couple, Tania and Keith whom we have known for almost 3 years. We have attended several weekly outdoor markets in and around the province of Arezzo.

We have discovered new restaurants and taken friends and family to some of our favorites from past visits.However, life is not all festivals, outdoor markets and eating, our paper chase continues.

Even though, Missy has an Italian passport.We both have to have recognized residency in our local comune (town) and identity cards (carta d’ identica). To get identity cards, we needed to submit copies of birth certificates, marriage certificates and, sometimes we think, every piece of paper we ever touched.Most of these documents had previously been translated into Italian, notarized and have been certified by the various Secretary of State offices where we have previously lived or were born in: Kentucky, the District of Columbia, North Carolina and Virginia. We have made (9) separate trips to the Anagrafe office in Monte San Savino where we had to submit our documents separately.We are very grateful to our neighbor Alessio and his mother, Rita, in assisting us with this process and requirement to live legally in this comune.

We each had to get Italian tax numbers, known as Codice Fiscale.Ben (the non-citizen) had to submit additional paperwork to register with the questura (police) and will received a document called a Carta di Soggorno (Cdis).Being married to an Italian citizen, he gets the Cdis not the more common Permiso di Soggorno (Pdis). He is lucky that this whole process changed within the past year and the paperwork is submitted via the Italian Post Office rather than standing in line at the questura office in Arezzo.

Ben had an appointment at the questura office in mid-December regarding his request for a Carta di Soggorno.In addition to all the paperwork he had initially submitted back in October at the Italian Post Office, he was asked for more documents and another set of photographs.He provided copies of our marriage certificate both in English and one translated into Italian, proof of financial worth (copy of bank statement and a letter from the Social Security Administration showing monthly benefit) and (4)passport size photos. Ben had to return because some machine had broken down (or so we were told) and the following day, he had to be digitally photographed and have his finger and palm prints taken.He was told by 2 different individuals that he was to return to the questura in 1 month or in 2 months to pickup his Carta di Soggorno.Needless to say, one never gets a straight forward answer in Italy.

December was a very good month for us.Besides Ben getting his first appointment with the questura, he received his carta d’ identica from the comune we live in.After which we applied for and received our health cards from the regional health authority to receive medical care and prescriptions.We now have a doctor and made our first visit to his office to get prescriptions for our various medications that we had in the States. What was amazing was that we did not have to pay for the office visit or for any of the medications.Also, you should be aware that there was no office staff supporting this doctor.When we knocked on his office door, he was in his office (just 1 room, 10’ X 16’) by himself behind a desk with a desktop computer and monitor, an examination table, a bookcase, his diploma on the wall and a few other items.Outside his office was a waiting room that he shared with another doctor.When you entered the waiting room, you asked the people sitting there who was the last person to enter and what doctor they were waiting for. It was a lot different than the doctor’s offices that Missy and I had been to in the States.

Ben’s other daughter, Annalisa, and her friend Owen, will be arriving at the end of the month for a short visit and will celebrate bring in the New Years with us.They will be bring with them a care package (read suitcase) with various items that we can’t find here or would like to have in Italy.It will also contain some surprise Christmas presents for Missy that she doesn’t know about.

Making it to Italy would not of been possible without the assistance, support and help of friends and family.Ben wants to recognize and express his and our thanks to: BK & Jim (Missy’s best friends from NC), Jane our next door neighbor & her family (VA), Bonnie & Pete (Missy’s cousin & her husband in NJ), Carmela & Antonio (our friends in Meta, Italy), Nina & Ellen (Missy’s former co-workers from Clyde’s), Bea (Ben’s sister in KS), Maria & Annalisa (Ben’s daughters) and Pat (Ben’s ex-wife).There are more individuals to list and thank for their assistance and support but these specific individuals helped get us out of Virginia or into Italy or provided items that we needed here in Italy. Also, we are very fortunate and blessed to have wonderful neighbors on either side of us: Ida and Luciano with 2 children, Alessio and Serena with a new born girl and his mother, Rita.

So far, so good!We plan on keeping busy in the months to come by renting out our guest house.Let us know if you will be in the area and plan to stay with us and/or share a glass a wine.

One last comment, one our biggest frustrations in this part of Italy is the lack of low cost and easy internet access.We live too far out of town for ADSL or cable.The dialup connection is very slow, expensive and unreliable.There are NO internet cafes in Monte San Savino.We go to a hotel lobby in Gargonza for Wi-Fi access from our respective laptops at a cost of 2 Euro/hour.With the current exchange rate, that comes out to just under $3.00/hour.The other choice is our town’s municipal tourist office.There it is free but at this time of the year, only available 3 nights a week for 2 hours but there are only 3 computers, available on a first come basis and there’s no privacy.So please be aware that if you drop us a email MSG, it may take several days to respond back to you.

Happy Holidays to you and the best of New Year’s (Buon Feste e Felice Nuovo Anno!).

Ben and Missy

Snail mail address:

Podere Covivole

Gargonza 81

52048 Monte San Savino (AR)

Italy

PS

When you get a chance read Ben’s blog: Moving2italy2.blogspot - The #1 source of links About, For or On Italy for those individuals moving, traveling or already living in Italy.

PSS

Here are a few photographs and of our journey to Italy.

Photograph #1: Sign on our house in Vienna, VA, February 2007

Photograph #2: Missy with her friends from NC who made several trips up from Oxford to help us pack, load U-Haul trucks and just did anything else to help us move, July, 2007.

Photograph #3: Just a few of the 21 bags we took on the Queen Mary II, the ferry to France and in the leased mini-van, September 2007.

Photograph #4: Missy's cousin, Bonnie and her husband Pete who helped get us, Siena Lucca and all the luggage to Queen Mary II in Brooklyn, NY, September 2007.

Photograph #5: Ben and Missy on the Queen Mary II passing the Statue of Liberty. A very emotional and memorable moment for my wife.

The above links are current. If anyone has any suggestions for other sites, please feel free to post your comment and I'll update this blog entry. For your specific interest, please search the web for further information using .

Please note: I do NOT represent or endorse any of these links nor do I receive payment for listing them in my blog.

That's it for Friday, 21 December 2007: venerdì, 21 dicembre 2007.

Ciao, Ben

Moving2Italy2 – #1 source of links About, For or On Italy for those individuals moving, traveling or already living in Italy.

Today’s quote is a Italian proverb, author unknown.

"Vira privata, vita beata.""Hidden life, happy life."

Please note: The time listed below for this posting is Central European Time (CET)/ GMT+1.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

I need your help. Due to very slow internet access and questionable phone service (at times), I am seeking guest contributors/writers for my blog. This is because I cannot research and generate blog entries and postings like I did in the States before I arrived in Italy. I am getting further and further behind.

You can write anything About, For or On Italy based upon your personal experience while traveling to, around or living in Italy. You will be identified as the author of the blog entry.

Please leave a comment with your email address, I will be the only person viewing your actual email address.

Broadband Internet Radio – "This page provides links to broadband Internet radio streams for the bigger UK radio stations that are at a higher level of audio quality than they're at on DAB. The reason they're at a higher level of audio quality is due to them using more modern audio formats -- such as WMA, AAC and Ogg Vorbis -- than the outdated MP2 format that's used on DAB. Furthermore, the audio quality of Internet radio streams is likely to get better over time due to Internet bandwidth reducing in price, which allows the broadcasters to use higher bit rate levels."

Internet Radio – "Internet radio seems to have earned itself a reputation for being at low audio quality, which in a lot of cases has been a fair criticism up to now due to the bigger stations typically using very low bit rate levels until recently. However, the Internet will become the system that provides the highest audio quality out of all of the digital systems that carry radio within the next year or two (as of 2007)!"

Live365.com – "With thousands of stations and more than 4 million listeners a month, Live365 is the world's largest Internet radio network. The Company gives individuals and organizations a "voice" to be able to reach a global audience, while offering radio listeners an unparalleled choice in music and other audio content. Through easy-to-use tools and services, anyone with a computer and an Internet connection can create his or her own Internet radio station. As a result, Live365 offers the most diverse array of high-quality radio available today, with thousands of stations spanning myriad genres and representing over 150 countries."

live-radio.net – "You will not find "Internet-only" stations, which have NO connection with radio, listed on this website."

RECIVA – "INTERNET RADIO" – "... brings the world of Internet radio into your home. We provide access to an extremely diverse range of Internet radio stations from around the world, with broadcasts from nearly every country on the planet. We provide both live and on-demand ("listen again") content and we support Real Audio, Windows and MP3 streams."

SHOUTcast – "... the home of free Internet Radio. Tune-in to thousands of free online radio stations from DJs and broadcasters around the world."

NPR – National Public Radio – "... is an internationally acclaimed producer and distributor of noncommercial news, talk, and entertainment programming. A privately supported, not-for-profit membership organization, NPR serves a growing audience of 26 million Americans each week in partnership with more than 860 independently operated, noncommercial public radio stations. Each NPR Member Station serves local listeners with a distinctive combination of national and local programming. With original online content and audio streaming, NPR.org offers hourly newscasts, special features and ten years of archived audio and information."

The above links are current. If anyone has any suggestions for other sites, please feel free to post your comment and I'll update this blog entry. For your specific interest, please search the web for further information using .

Please note: I do NOT represent or endorse any of these links nor do I receive payment for listing them in my blog.

This blog entry was originally part of one that I posted back in 2005. It has been updated and is for those individuals that are more interested in radio than TV. It should be noted that whatever I say or state for Italy with few exceptions is good for other countries in the world. This is just a sampling of the thousands of internet radio stations available on the internet.

That's it for Tuesday, 11 December 2007: martedì, 11 dicembre 2007.

Ciao, Ben

Moving2Italy2 – The #1 source of links About, For or On Italy for those individuals moving, traveling or already living in Italy.

AngloINFO "currently has four websites in Italy, serving Rome, Milan, Tuscany and Liguria, with more in the pipeline."

"Italy is a country of contrasts: the urban excitement of Rome, Milan and Naples, the rolling beauty of Tuscany and the craggy Amalfi coast. With so many different places to choose from, it attracts foreign residents for all sorts of reasons - from business-people building an international career to retirees choosing the languid pace of an Italian rural life."

"Whatever your reason for choosing Italy as your home, AngloINFO's world-class English-language information and interaction can provide you with the tools you need to smooth your move and enhance your life in Italy."

I have found AngloINFO to be an excellent resource for compiling and researching information for my various blog entries and postings on information about Rome, Milan, Tuscany and Liguria and about Italy. It is not perfect and depends on the interaction of its readers, supporters and various businesses for input, content and feedback. I believe they are trying to the best of their ability to bring accurate and timely information to its regional audiences and readers wherever they are located.

Since moving to Monte San Savino (AR) in the region of Toscana, I have made use of AngloINFO Tuscany – "Life in Tuscany, in English!" for finding out information about various events in the region, trying to find a place to repair my Yamaha stereo receiver and read the Forum to see what people are saying. I do make use of this resource.

The above links are current. If anyone has any suggestions for other sites, please feel free to post your comment and I'll update this blog entry. For your specific interest, please search the web for further information using .

Please note: I do NOT represent or endorse any of these links nor do I receive payment for listing them in my blog.

That's it for Friday, 7 December 2007: venerdì, 7 dicembre 2007.

Ciao, Ben

Moving2Italy2 – The #1 source of links About, For or On Italy for those individuals moving, traveling or already living in Italy.

This blog entry is updated frequently until November, 2016. However, I will need the assistance of readers of this blog in the province of Arezzo and the region of Toscana (Tuscany). Please feel free to send me updates and notices of events and festivals (AKA feste or sagre) in the province of Arezzo within the region of Toscana (Tuscany), Italy.

About Me

Expat who has lived and worked in Germany and Kuwait. I have worked for
a brief period of time in Brazil. I have traveled to most of Western
Europe, Hong Kong, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates. Since September,
2007, I now live in Italy with my wife, Martha, and our dog, Siena Lucca..